Monthly Archives: December 2008

The wages of reason

Posted on December 7, 2008 by David Hume

Just to be clear, I support the program of experimental philosophy.  Some of the arguments on this weblog have seen me be extremely dismissive of reason. If one is not ambitious, and keeps the chain of propositions suitably modest, there … Continue reading →

Posted in philosophy | Tagged , , , | 6 Comments

Metaphysics & mathematics

Posted on December 7, 2008 by David Hume

Edward Feser, An open letter to Heather MacDonald: Now I have claimed – as a great many other thinkers, both secular and religious, would claim – that philosophy, and in particular the branch of philosophy called metaphysics, is another form … Continue reading →

Posted in philosophy | Tagged , , , | 11 Comments

Sexuality and human nature

Posted on December 7, 2008 by David Hume

A friend emailed me in response to my post below: Interesting example with homosexuality, both because the choice of sexual behavior, pretty much the sort of thing that one would expect the strongest biological constraints on, was apparently needed to … Continue reading →

Posted in culture | Tagged , , | 11 Comments

What’s Wrong with Falwell?

Posted on December 7, 2008 by Heather Mac Donald

I just heard Kevin Phillips on CSPAN-2 denouncing the Religious Right on the ground, inter alia, that “Jerry Falwell interpreted a hurricane as proof of God’s wrath.”  “How ridiculous is that?” asked Phillips, or something to that effect.  To the … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | 13 Comments

Miscellany, December 7

Posted on December 7, 2008 by Walter Olson

Ann Althouse on Bill O’Reilly and the Washington atheist sign: Another December, another battle in the “War on Christmas.” I think the sensible people don’t want to fight about religion, but there are always extremists — pro-religion and anti-religion — … Continue reading →

Posted in Odds & Ends | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

And Is It True?

Posted on December 7, 2008 by Bradlaugh

What Mr. Hume said. (And Heather, too.) Whether believers are healthier, better behaved, better citizens, less likely to establish totalitarian dictatorships, and all the rest, are shadow questions. I think the ground where all of us on this site stand is, … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | 14 Comments

Truth matters

Posted on December 6, 2008 by David Hume

In Heather’s post she mentioned that at the end of the day for her it is about truth, not consequence, in relation to supernatural claims.  This is a point that needs to be made because intellectuals such as Michael Novak … Continue reading →

Posted in philosophy, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , | 18 Comments

Young bloggers be aware!

Posted on December 6, 2008 by David Hume

2009 College Blogger Contest: Doublethink Online is pleased to announce the second annual America’s Future Foundation College Blogger Contest. The purpose of the contest is to encourage original liberty-minded blogger journalism on college campuses and to identify young conservative and … Continue reading →

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Atheism makes you a great scientist?

Posted on December 6, 2008 by David Hume

A reader asks, perhaps facetiously: Funny, but given the homage being paid to science in so many of these first threads, I was just wondering if there’s any actual evidence that, in practice, atheists make better scientists than believers. There … Continue reading →

Posted in data | Tagged , , | 15 Comments

How Much Religious Falsehood Is Acceptable?

Posted on December 6, 2008 by Heather Mac Donald

 I am returning to the Ed Feser exchange because it relates to a question I have been pondering about sophisticated Catholics and other Christians.    I had asked Mr. Feser if he could suggest an experimental design to test the efficacy … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , | 65 Comments